Oh, what might have been.
With Top-15 national prospect Taylen Kinney’s departure from the Newport High basketball program a year ago for Atlanta’s Overtime Elite in a step to prepare him for the challenges – not to mention the NIL riches — that await in college and then this summer’s defections of Division I big men prospects – 6-foot-8 James Turner to AZ Compass Prep School in Arizona and 6-9 Griffin Starks to Florida’s Southeastern Prep, we can only wonder.
What would it have been like to have a Northern Kentucky basketball team the odds-on favorite to win Kentucky’s Sweet 16. And do so going away. Wire to wire. As one of the great teams in Kentucky high school basketball history. That could have been Newport’s fate.
And with the Wildcats possibly in the running to finish the season as the nation’s unofficial No. 1 prep program. Yeah, that would have been fun to watch. But in this fast-changing world of sports where high schools are changing as fast as the colleges now, what might have been the case a years ago is no longer the case now.
Big numbers for Northern Kentucky’s all-time MLB players
Of Kentucky’s 296 MLB players all-time, 53 have come from Northern Kentucky. That’s a bit of an uptick from last week’s column and a solid 18 percent for Northern Kentucky of the state’s all-time MLB roster. And for an area that’s just about 10 percent of Kentucky’s population, not bad at all.
Those 53 are more than 10 states have produced. Kentucky, No. 25 in state population, ranks 20th on the list of MLB players produced with that 296 number. California’s 2,505 are the most, for comparison.
Newport’s Alamazoo Jennings not only leads the all-name team but he’s the oldest player here, born in 1850. Covington’s Joe Heving played 15 seasons until he was the lone grandfather in MLB at the age 45 in 1945 while Hall of Famer and former Senator Jim Bunning played one year more – 16 seasons – into his 40th year.
Fifteen Northern Kentuckians played just one season. Another 11 played a decade or more. And an amazing 29 were born in the 1800’s when professional baseball was just getting its start.
Edgewood’s Luke Maile is the lone local still playing as the former Reds’ and now Kansas City Royals’ catcher from Covington Catholic and UK, has made it for a decade in MLB.
Two players identified with Northern Kentucky, Bob Barton from Covington Holmes and Jeoff Long from Erlanger Lloyd, both born in 1941, had the distinction of becoming “Bonus Babies” out of high school the same year in 1959. But Barton’s place of birth from The Baseball Almanac is Norwood, Ohio, so the UK basketball signee who grew up in Latonia is not on this list. The former Giants’, Reds’ and Padres’ catcher died in Vista, Calif., in 2018. The MLB rule then required players signed for more than a certain amount, for example Barton’s $25,000 bonus, had to be kept on the MLB roster.
Here’s the town-by-town rundown with each player named with his date of birth and playing years with some additions to the numbers from last week’s column:
Covington (21): Brandon Berger (born 1975, played 2001-2004); Harry Berte (born 1872, played 1903); John Black (born 1890, played 1911); Neal Brady (born 1897, played 1915-1925); Howie Camnitz (born 1881, played 1904-1915); Bob Clark (born 1863, played 1886-1893); John Farrell (born 1876, played 1901-1905; Leo Foster (born 1951, played 1971-1977); Hank Gastright (born 1865, played 1891-1896); Joe Heving (born 1900, played 1930-1945); Johnnie Heving (born 1896, played 1920-1932); Eddie Hohnhorst (born 1885, played 1910-1912); Jeoff Long (born 1941, played 1963-1964); Joel McKeon (born 1963, played 1986-1987); Jim Minshall (born 1947, played 1974-1975); Bill Niles (born 1867, played 1895); Joe Sommer (born 1858, played 1880-1890); Bill Sweeney (born 1886, played 1907-1914); J.J. Thobe (born 1970, played 1995); Tom Thobe (born 1969, played 1995-1996); Graham Taylor (born 1984, played 2009);
Newport (9): Kid Baldwin (born 1864, played 1884-1890); John Dolan (born 1867, played 1890-1895); Rudy Hulswitt (born 1877, played 1933); Alamazoo Jennings (born 1850, played 1878); George Miller (born 1853, played 1877-1884); Dick Niehaus (born 1892, played 1913-1920); Tommy Reis (born 1914, played 1938); George Textor (born 1886, played 1914-1915); Orlie Weaver (born 1886, played 1910-1911).
Dayton (5): Todd Benzinger (born 1963, played 1987-1995); Bill Kissinger (born 1871, played 1895-1897); Chuck Smith (born 1892, played 1913); Jesse Tannehill (born 1874, played 1894-2011); Lee Tannehill (born 1880, played 1903-1912).
Ft. Thomas (4): Kyle Parker (born 1989, played 2014-2015); Chris Peters (born 1972, played 1996-2001); Jack Thoney (born 1879, played 1902-1911); Scott Wiggins (born 1976, played 2002).
Bellevue (2): Eddie Hunter (born 1905, played 1933); Ed Kennedy (born 1861, played 1884).
Butler (2): Nate Jones (born 1986, played 2012-2021); Billy Taylor (birth date unknown, played 1898).
Southgate (1): Jim Bunning (born 1931, played 1955-1971).
Highland Heights (1): Josh Lueke (1984, played 2011-2014);
Kenton (1): Brian Drahman (born 1966, played 1991-1994).
Ludlow (1): Dale Williams (born 1855, played 1876).
Edgewood (1): Luke Maile (born 1991, playing 2015-2025 (active).
Williamstown (1): Doc Sechrist (born 1876, played 1899).
Warsaw (1): Jim Blackburn (born 1924, played 1948-1951).
Germantown (1): Carl Bouldin (born 1939, played 1961-1964);
Grants Lick (1): Bill Hobbs (born 1893, played 1913-1916).
Falmouth (1): Frank Browning (born 1882, played 1910).
Contact Dan Weber at dweber3440@aol.com. Follow him on X (formerly Twitter) @dweber3440.